Portable biometric monitoring devices having location sensors

ABSTRACT

Assisted-GPS for a portable biometric monitoring device is provided. The portable biometric monitoring device may obtain updated ephemeris data from an associated secondary device via a short-range, low-power communication protocol. The secondary device may be a computing device such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Various rules may control when the ephemeris data is updated. The ephemeris data may be used in the calculation of the global position of the portable biometric monitoring device. Additionally, the portable biometric monitoring device may communicate downloaded position fixing data to the associated secondary device. The associated secondary device may then calculate the global position from the position fixing data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/242,711, filed Apr. 1, 2014, titled “PORTABLEBIOMETRIC MONITORING DEVICES HAVING LOCATION SENSORS,” which claims thebenefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e)(1) of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/807,279, filed Apr. 1, 2013, titled “PORTABLE BIOMETRIC MONITORINGDEVICE HAVING LOCATION SENSORS,” both of which are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Recent consumer interest in personal health has led to a variety ofpersonal health monitoring devices being offered on the market. Suchdevices, until recently, tended to be complicated to use and typicallyhad few features and responded slowly.

Recent advances in sensor, electronics, and power source miniaturizationhave allowed the size of personal health monitoring devices, alsoreferred to herein as “biometric tracking” or “biometric monitoring”devices, to be offered in small sizes that were previously impractical.For example, the Fitbit Ultra is a biometric monitoring device that isapproximately 2″ long, 0.75″ wide, and 0.5″ deep; it has a pixelateddisplay, battery, sensors, wireless communications capability, powersource, and interface button, as well as an integrated clip forattaching the device to a pocket or other portion of clothing, packagedwithin this small volume.

In some versions of personal health monitoring devices, GPS capabilitieshave been provided. Because GPS is a technology that was originallydeveloped in the 1970s and 1980s to allow nuclear ballistic missilesubmarines to precisely know their locations in order to accuratelytarget submarine-launched nuclear warheads, GPS does not always lenditself well to integration into modern consumer electronic devices. Forexample, by modern standards, the GPS system uses a very slow datatransfer speed of 50 bits per second, which means that a GPS receiver,in some cases, has to be on for as long as 12 minutes before a GPSpositional fix may be obtained. Once a positional fix is obtained,subsequent positional fixes may take much less time to obtain (assumingthat the subsequent positional fix occurs within a sufficiently closeinterval), but this initial lock-on period requires that the GPSreceiver be powered for the entire initial lock-on, which can be taxingon devices with small battery capacities.

SUMMARY

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device may be provided. The method mayinclude: (a) determining that the worn biometric monitoring device doesnot have stored updated ephemeris data and (b) obtaining updatedephemeris data via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol from a secondary device associated with the worn biometricmonitoring device.

In some such implementations of the method, the method may furtherinclude: (c) determining that a global position of the worn biometricmonitoring device should be calculated and (d) calculating the globalposition of the worn biometric monitoring device using the ephemerisdata obtained in (b). In some such implementations, the worn biometricmonitoring device may include a navigation data receiver and thecalculation of the global position in (d) may include: (i) determiningorbital positions of navigation satellites according to the ephemerisdata obtained in (b), (ii) obtaining position fixing data via thenavigation data receiver from the navigation satellites, and (iii)calculating the global position of the worn biometric monitoring deviceusing the position fixing data obtained in (ii). In some suchimplementations, the method may further include: (iv) obtaining, before(i), from the associated secondary device, a last calculated globalposition of the associated secondary device. In some other or additionalimplementations of the method, (b) may include obtaining updatedephemeris data associated with the navigation satellites thattransmitted position fixing data to the navigation data receiver.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, the secondarydevice may be a portable device.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, theshort-range, low-power communication protocol may be selected from thegroup consisting of: Bluetooth, ANT, near field communication (NFC),ZigBee, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, Infrared Data Association (IrDA)protocols, and standards related to any of the foregoing.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, (a) mayinclude: (i) determining a time remaining before stored ephemeris datais no longer current, (ii) comparing the time remaining determined in(i) to an ephemeris data update time threshold, and (iii) requestingupdated ephemeris data from the secondary device when the time remainingis less than the ephemeris data update time threshold. In some suchimplementations, the ephemeris data update time threshold is a time lessthan 2 hours. In some other or additional implementations, (a) mayfurther include, between (ii) and (iii), (iv) detecting that thesecondary device is within communication range.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, the secondarydevice may obtain updated ephemeris data from a navigation satellite.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, the secondarydevice may obtain updated ephemeris data from an Earth-basedorganization serving updated ephemeris data.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, (b) mayinclude obtaining X amount of days of ephemeris data and X is a numberbetween 0 and 30.

In some other or additional implementations of the method, (a) mayinclude determining that a more recently updated version of theephemeris data stored on the worn biometric monitoring device isavailable and (b) may include obtaining the more recently updatedversion of the ephemeris data via the short-range, low-powercommunication from the secondary device associated with the wornbiometric monitoring device.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may includecommunication circuitry, the communication circuitry configured toreceive ephemeris data from a secondary device associated with thewearable biometric monitoring device via a wireless short-range,low-power communication protocol and output the ephemeris data to acontroller, and the controller including one or more processors and amemory, wherein the one or more processors, the memory, and thecommunication circuitry, are communicatively connected and the memory isconfigured to store ephemeris data and program instructions forcontrolling the one or more processors to: (a) determine that the storedephemeris data in the memory is not updated, (b) obtain updatedephemeris data from the secondary device via the communicationcircuitry, and (c) calculate the global position of the wearablebiometric monitoring device using the updated ephemeris data obtained in(b).

In some such implementations, the wearable biometric monitoring devicemay further include a navigation data receiver and wherein thecalculating of the global position in (c) includes: (i) determiningorbital positions of navigation satellites according to the updatedephemeris data obtained in (b), (ii) obtaining position fixing data viathe navigation data receiver from the navigation satellites, and (iii)calculating the global position of the wearable biometric monitoringdevice using the position fixing data obtained in (ii). In some other oradditional implementations, the wearable biometric monitoring device mayfurther include: (iv) obtaining, before (i), from the associatedsecondary device, a last calculated global position of the associatedsecondary device. In some other or additional implementations, (b)includes obtaining updated ephemeris data associated with the navigationsatellites that transmitted position fixing data to the navigation datareceiver.

In some other or additional implementations, the secondary device is aportable device.

In some other or additional implementations, the short-range, low-powercommunication protocol is selected from the group consisting ofBluetooth, ANT, near field communication (NFC), ZigBee, IEEE 802.11,IEEE 802.15, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocols, and standardsrelated to any of the foregoing.

In some other or additional implementations, (a) includes: (i)determining a time remaining before stored ephemeris data is no longercurrent, (ii) comparing the time remaining determined in (i) to anephemeris data update time threshold, and (iii) requesting updatedephemeris data from the secondary device when the time remaining is lessthan the ephemeris data update time threshold. In some suchimplementations, the ephemeris data update time threshold is a time lessthan 2 hours. In some other or additional implementations, (a) furtherincludes, between (ii) and (iii), (iv) detecting that the secondarydevice is within communication range.

In some other or additional implementations, the secondary deviceobtains updated ephemeris data from a navigation satellite.

In some other or additional implementations, the secondary deviceobtains updated ephemeris data from an Earth-based organization servingupdated ephemeris data.

In some other or additional implementations, (b) includes obtaining Xamount of days of ephemeris data and X is a number between 0 and 30.

In some other or additional implementations, (a) includes determiningthat a more recently updated version of the ephemeris data stored on theworn biometric monitoring device is available and (b) includes obtainingthe more recently updated version of the ephemeris data via theshort-range, low-power communication from the secondary deviceassociated with the worn biometric monitoring device.

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device may be provided. The method mayinclude: (a) repeatedly and automatically syncing the worn biometricmonitoring device with a secondary device associated with the wornbiometric monitoring device, wherein the syncing includes providing theworn biometric monitoring device with current ephemeris data from thesecondary device using a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol.

In some such implementations, the method may further include: (b)determining that a global position of the worn biometric monitoringdevice should be calculated and (c) calculating the global position ofthe worn biometric monitoring device using the ephemeris data obtainedin (a), wherein at least some of the syncing operations are conductedwhen the worn biometric monitoring device is not determining the globalposition of the worn biometric device.

In some other or additional implementations, each syncing may include:(i) determining an elapsed time from when the ephemeris data was lastupdated, (ii) comparing the elapsed time with a sync time threshold,(iii) determining that the elapsed time exceeds the sync time threshold,and (iv) obtaining updated ephemeris data from the secondary device. Insome such implementations, the sync time threshold is between every 5minutes to every 2 hours.

In some other or additional implementations, the worn biometricmonitoring device is regularly synced with the secondary deviceaccording to a schedule. In some such implementations, the schedule is atime schedule according to the time of day. In some other or additionalimplementations, the method my further include determining the scheduleby monitoring a pattern of interaction of a user with the biometricmonitoring device.

In some other or additional implementations, the method further includes(d) determining, before (a), that the worn biometric monitoring deviceis associated with the secondary device.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device includingcommunication circuitry, the communication circuitry configured toreceive ephemeris data from a secondary device associated with thewearable biometric monitoring device via a wireless short-range,low-power communication protocol and output the ephemeris data to acontroller, and the controller including one or more processors and amemory, wherein the one or more processors, the memory, and thecommunication circuitry, are communicatively connected and the memory isconfigured to store ephemeris data and program instructions forcontrolling the one or more processors to: (a) repeatedly andautomatically sync the wearable biometric monitoring device with thesecondary device, wherein the sync includes obtaining current ephemerisdata from the secondary device, (b) determine that a global position ofthe wearable biometric monitoring device should be calculated, and (c)calculate the global position using the current ephemeris data obtainedin (a), wherein at least some of the syncing is conducted when thewearable biometric monitoring device is not determining the globalposition of the wearable biometric monitoring device.

In some such implementations, each sync obtained in (a) includes: (i)determining an elapsed time from when the ephemeris data was lastupdated, (ii) comparing the elapsed time with a sync time threshold,(iii) determining that the elapsed time exceeds the sync time threshold,and (iv) obtaining updated ephemeris data from the secondary device. Insome such implementations, the sync time threshold is between every 5minutes to every 2 hours.

In some other or additional implementations, the wearable biometricmonitoring device is regularly synced with the secondary deviceaccording to a schedule. In some such implementations, the schedule is atime schedule according to the time of day. In some other or additionalimplementations, the schedule is determined by monitoring a pattern ofinteraction of a user with the biometric monitoring device.

In some other or additional implementations, the memory stores furtherprogram instructions for controlling the one or more processors to: (d)determine, before (a), that the worn biometric monitoring device isassociated with the secondary device.

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device may be provided. The method including:(a) obtaining position fixing data by interacting with a navigationsatellite, (b) providing the position fixing data to an associatedsecondary device so that the associated secondary device can calculate aglobal position of the worn biometric monitoring device, wherein theworn biometric monitoring device provides the position fixing data tothe associated secondary device via a wireless short-range, low-powercommunication protocol, and (c) receiving the global position from thesecondary device.

In some such implementations, the worn biometric monitoring device mayinclude a navigation data receiver.

In some other or additional implementations, the worn biometricmonitoring device includes a navigation data receiver and theinteracting with the navigation satellite includes receiving theposition fixing data from the navigation satellite via the navigationdata receiver using wireless communication.

In some other or additional implementations the method may furtherinclude: (d) storing the position fixing data in a memory after (a) andbefore (b).

In some other or additional implementations the method may furtherinclude: (e) determining, before (a), that the global position of theworn biometric monitoring device should be calculated.

In some other or additional implementations the short-range, low-powercommunication protocol includes protocols selected from the groupconsisting of Bluetooth, ANT, near field communication (NFC), ZigBee,IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocols,and standards related to any of the foregoing.

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device may be provided. The method mayinclude: (a) obtaining position fixing data by interacting with anavigation satellite, (b) providing the position fixing data to aassociated secondary device via a wireless short-range, low-powercommunication protocol, and (c) calculating the global position from theposition fixing data with the associated secondary device.

In some such implementations, the method may further include (d)displaying a graphical representation of the global position on theassociated secondary device.

In some other or additional implementations, the method may furtherinclude (e) communicating the global position from the associatedsecondary device to a tertiary device.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may include:communication circuitry, the communication circuitry configured tooutput data to a secondary device associated with the wearable biometricmonitoring device via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol and receive a global position from the secondary device, anavigation data receiver, the navigation data receiver configured toreceive the position fixing data from a navigation satellite and outputthe position fixing data to the controller, and the controller includingone or more processors and a memory, wherein the one or more processors,the memory, the communication circuitry, and the navigation datareceiver are communicatively connected and the memory is configured tostore program instructions for controlling the one or more processorsto: (a) obtain the position fixing data from the navigation satellite,(b) provide the position fixing data to the associated secondary devicevia the communication circuitry so that the secondary device cancalculate a global position of the wearable biometric monitoring device,and (c) receive the global position from the secondary device.

In some such implementations, the memory may store further programinstructions for controlling the one or more processors to (d) store theposition fixing data in the memory after (a) and before (b).

In some other or additional implementations, the memory may storefurther program instructions for controlling the one or more processorsto (e) determine, before (a), that the global position of the wearablebiometric monitoring device should be calculated.

In some other or additional implementations, the short-range, low-powercommunication protocol may include protocols selected from the group ofBluetooth, ANT, near field communication (NFC), ZigBee, IEEE 802.11,IEEE 802.15, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocols, and standardsrelated to any of the foregoing.

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device, including a navigation data receiverand a motion-detecting sensor, may be provided. The method may include:(a) determining that the worn biometric monitoring device has movedafter being substantially stationary and (b) in response to determiningthat the worn biometric monitoring device has moved, obtaining updatedephemeris data via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol from a secondary device associated with the worn biometricmonitoring device.

In some such implementations, the method may further include: (c)determining that a global position of the worn biometric monitoringdevice should be calculated and (d) calculating the global position ofthe worn biometric monitoring device using the ephemeris data obtainedin (b).

In some other or additional implementations, the motion-detecting sensoris a sensor selected from the group consisting of: an accelerometer, agyroscope, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a user interface, anenvironmental sensor, a light sensor, a pedometer, and a global positionsensor.

In some other or additional implementations, the motion-detecting sensoris an accelerometer configured to detect acceleration of the wornbiometric monitoring device and determining that the worn biometricmonitoring device has moved in (a) includes detecting an accelerationgreater than a threshold value of acceleration. In some suchimplementations, the threshold value of acceleration is acceleration ofthe worn biometric monitoring device greater than 3 m/s².

In some other or additional implementations, the motion-detecting sensoris a gyroscope configured to detect a change in orientation of the wornbiometric monitoring device and determining that the worn biometricmonitoring device has moved in (a) includes detecting a change inorientation of the worn biometric monitoring device.

In some other or additional implementations, the motion-detecting sensoris an altitude sensor configured to detect a change in altitude of theworn biometric monitoring device and determining that the worn biometricmonitoring device has moved in (a) includes detecting a change inaltitude of the worn biometric monitoring device.

In some other or additional implementations, the motion-detecting sensoris a light sensor configured to detect UV light and determining that theworn biometric monitoring device has moved in (a) includes sensing, withthe light sensor, the presence of UV light.

In some other or additional implementations, (a) is determined by theassociated secondary device.

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device including a navigation data receiverand a user interface may be provided. The method including: (a)determining that a user is interacting with the user interface and (b)in response to determining that the user is interacting with the userinterface, obtaining updated ephemeris data via a wireless short-range,low-power communication protocol from a secondary device associated withthe worn biometric monitoring device.

In some such implementations, the method further includes: (c)determining that a global position of the worn biometric monitoringdevice should be calculated and (d) calculating the global position ofthe worn biometric monitoring device using the ephemeris data obtainedin (b).

In some implementations, a method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device including a navigation data receiver, amotion-detecting sensor, a battery, and a controller may be provided.The method including: (a) determining that an ephemeris data thresholdupdate condition is met and (b) in response to determining that theephemeris data threshold update condition is met, obtaining updatedephemeris data via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol from a secondary device associated with the worn biometricmonitoring device.

In some such implementations, the method may further include: (c)determining that a global position of the worn biometric monitoringdevice should be calculated and (d) calculating the global position ofthe worn biometric monitoring device using the ephemeris data obtainedin (b).

In some other or additional implementations, the ephemeris datathreshold update condition is one or more of: (i) detecting a wirelessconnection with the secondary device exceeding a threshold connectionstrength, (ii) determining that the battery has a battery charge levelexceeding a battery charge threshold, (iii) determining that thecontroller has a spare processing ability exceeding a thresholdprocessing ability, and (iv) determining that the worn biometricmonitoring device is in a stationary state.

In some other or additional implementation, (a) is determined by theassociated secondary device.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may include amotion-detecting sensor, the motion-detecting sensor configured todetect acceleration of the wearable biometric monitoring device andoutput motion data to a controller, communication circuitry, thecommunication circuitry configured to receive data from a secondarydevice associated with the biometric monitoring device via a wirelessshort-range, low-power communication protocol and output data to thecontroller, and the controller with one or more processors and a memory,wherein the one or more processors, the memory, the motion-detectingsensor, and the communication circuitry, are communicatively connectedand the memory is configured to store program instructions forcontrolling the one or more processors to: (a) determine that thewearable biometric monitoring device has moved, (b) in response to thedetermination that the wearable biometric monitoring device has moved,obtain updated ephemeris data from the secondary device, and (c)calculate a global position of the wearable biometric monitoring deviceusing the ephemeris data obtained in (b).

In some such implementations, the apparatus may further include amotion-detecting sensor selected from the group consisting of: anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, an altitude sensor, a userinterface, an environmental sensor, a light sensor, a pedometer, and aglobal position sensor.

In some other or additional implementations, the apparatus may furtherinclude an accelerometer configured to detect acceleration of thewearable biometric monitoring device and output acceleration data to thecontroller, wherein (a) includes detecting an acceleration greater thana threshold value of acceleration from the acceleration data. In somesuch implementations, the threshold value of acceleration isacceleration of the worn biometric monitoring device greater than 3m/s².

In some other or additional implementations, the apparatus may furtherinclude a gyroscope configured to detect a change in orientation of thewearable biometric monitoring device and output orientation data to thecontroller, wherein (a) includes detecting a change in orientation fromthe orientation data.

In some other or additional implementation, the apparatus may furtherinclude an altitude sensor configured to detect a change in altitude ofthe wearable biometric monitoring device and output altitude data to thecontroller, wherein (a) includes detecting a change in altitude from thealtitude data.

In some other or additional implementation, the apparatus may furtherinclude a light sensor configured to detect UV light and output lightdata to the controller, wherein (a) includes sensing the presence of UVlight from the light data.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may include a userinterface, the user interface configured to interact with a user,communication circuitry, the communication circuitry configured toreceive data from a secondary device associated with the biometricmonitoring device via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol and output data to the controller, and a controller with one ormore processors and a memory, wherein the one or more processors, thememory, the user interface, and the communication circuitry, arecommunicatively connected and the memory is configured to store programinstructions for controlling the one or more processors to: (a)determine that the user is interacting with the user interface, (b) inresponse to the determination that the user is interacting with the userinterface, obtain updated ephemeris data from the secondary device, and(c) calculate a global position of the wearable biometric monitoringdevice using the ephemeris data obtained in (b).

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may include amotion-detecting sensor, the motion-detecting sensor configured todetect acceleration of the wearable biometric monitoring device andoutput motion data to a controller, a battery, the battery configured toprovide battery power to the wearable biometric monitoring device,communication circuitry, the communication circuitry configured toreceive data from a secondary device associated with the wearablebiometric monitoring device via a wireless short-range, low-powercommunication protocol and output data to the controller, and thecontroller with one or more processors and a memory, wherein the one ormore processors, the memory, the motion-detecting sensor, and thecommunication circuitry, are communicatively connected and the memory isconfigured to store program instructions for controlling the one or moreprocessors to: (a) determine that an ephemeris data threshold updatecondition is met, (b) in response to determining that the ephemeris datathreshold update condition is met, obtaining updated ephemeris data viaa wireless short-range, low-power communication protocol from asecondary device associated with the wearable biometric monitoringdevice, and (c) calculate a global position of the wearable biometricmonitoring device using the updated ephemeris data obtained in (b).

In some such implementations, the ephemeris data threshold updatecondition may be one or more of: (i) detecting a wireless connectionwith the secondary device exceeding a threshold connection strength,(ii) determining that the battery has a battery charge level exceeding abattery charge threshold, (iii) determining that the controller hasspare processing ability exceeding a threshold processing ability, and(iv) determining that the wearable biometric monitoring device isstationary.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may include a userinterface, the user interface configured to interact with a user,communication circuitry, the communication circuitry configured toreceive data from a portable camera associated with the biometricmonitoring device and output the data to a controller, and thecontroller with one or more processors and a memory, wherein the one ormore processors, the memory, the user interface, and the communicationcircuitry, are communicatively connected and the memory is configured tostore program instructions for controlling the one or more processors towirelessly interact with the portable camera.

In some such implementations, the communication circuitry is furtherconfigured to communicate data to the portable camera via a short-range,low-power communication protocol.

In some other or additional implementations, wirelessly interacting withthe portable camera may include wirelessly receiving video data from theportable camera. In some such implementations, the user interface is adigital display, the controller is further configured to display thevideo data from the portable camera on the user interface, and the videodata from the portable camera is communicated from the portable camerato the wearable biometric monitoring device via the communicationcircuitry. In some other or additional implementations, the video datafrom the portable camera is current video data recorded by the portablecamera and communicated directly to the wearable biometric monitoringdevice.

In some other or additional implementations, the video data from theportable camera is video data stored on a memory on the portable cameraprior to the wearable biometric monitoring device receiving the videodata from the portable camera.

In some other or additional implementations, wirelessly interacting withthe portable camera includes starting a recording by the portable cameraand stopping a recording by the portable camera.

In some implementations, a wearable biometric monitoring device may beprovided. The wearable biometric monitoring device may include a firsthousing including a controller, communication circuitry, thecommunication circuitry configured to receive data from a secondarydevice associated with the wearable biometric monitoring device via awireless short-range, low-power communication protocol and output thedata to the controller, and a second housing configured to attach to thefirst housing, wherein the second housing includes at least a portion ofthe communication circuitry.

In some such implementations, at least a portion of the communicationcircuitry included in the second housing is configured to electricallyconnect to the controller when the second housing is attached to thefirst housing. In some such implementations, the first housing includesa metallic portion electrically connected to the controller and themetallic portion is configured to electrically connect to the at least aportion of the communication circuitry included in the second housingwhen the second housing is attached to the first housing. In some otheror additional implementations, the first housing includes electricallyconductive content electrically connected to the controller and theelectrically conductive content is configured to electrically connect tothe at least a portion of the communication circuitry included in thesecond housing when the second housing is attached to the first housing.

These and other features of the disclosed embodiments will be describedin more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various embodiments disclosed herein are illustrated by way ofexample, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of theaccompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer tosimilar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a mobile station basedAssisted-GPS of a worn biometric monitoring device for obtainingephemeris data from a paired secondary device.

FIG. 2 shows a further example configuration of a mobile station basedAssisted-GPS of a worn biometric monitoring device for obtainingephemeris data from a paired secondary device.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram detailing an example of updating ephemerisdata through a mobile station based Assisted-GPS for a biometricmonitoring device.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram detailing an additional example of updatingephemeris data through a mobile station based Assisted-GPS for abiometric monitoring device.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram detailing an example of an ephemeris dataupdate algorithm for a mobile station based Assisted-GPS of a biometricmonitoring device with a paired secondary device.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram detailing an additional example of anephemeris data update algorithm for a mobile station based Assisted-GPSof a biometric monitoring device with a paired secondary device.

FIG. 7 shows an example configuration of a mobile station assistedcalculation of a global position of a worn biometric monitoring device.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram detailing an example of a mobile stationassisted calculation of a global position of a biometric monitoringdevice.

FIG. 9 shows an example configuration of a biometric monitoring deviceportable camera positioning aid.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a portable biometric monitoring devicehaving a button and a display.

FIG. 11 shows a wrist mounted portable biometric monitoring devicehaving a button, a display, and a band to secure the portable biometricmonitoring device to the wrist.

FIG. 12 shows a generalized embodiment of a computing device that may beused to implement a portable biometric monitoring device, secondarydevice (e.g. smartphone) and/or server or other device in which thevarious operations described herein may be executed.

FIG. 13 shows a further generalized embodiment of a computing devicethat may be used to implement a portable biometric monitoring device inwhich the various operations described herein may be executed.

INTRODUCTION

Portable biometric monitoring devices according to embodiments describedherein have shapes and sizes adapted for coupling to (e.g., secured to,worn, borne by, etc.) the body or clothing of a user. Examples ofportable biometric monitoring devices are shown in FIG. 10 and II. Thedevices collect one or more types of physiological and/or environmentaldata from embedded sensors and/or external devices and communicate orrelay such information to other devices, including devices capable ofserving as an Internet-accessible data sources, thus permitting thecollected data to be viewed, for example, using a web browser ornetwork-based application. For example, while the user is wearing abiometric monitoring device, the device may calculate and store theuser's step count using one or more sensors. The device then transmitsdata representative of the user's step count to an account on a webservice (e.g., fitbit.com), computer, mobile phone, or health stationwhere the data may be stored, processed, and visualized by the user.Indeed, the device may measure or calculate a plurality of otherphysiological metrics in addition to, or in place of, the user's stepcount. These include, but are not limited to, energy expenditure (e.g.,calorie burn), floors climbed and/or descended, heart rate, heart ratevariability, heart rate recovery, location and/or heading (e.g., throughGPS), elevation, ambulatory speed and/or distance traveled, swimming lapcount, bicycle distance and/or speed, blood pressure, blood glucose,skin conduction, skin and/or body temperature, electromyography,electroencephalography, weight, body fat, caloric intake, nutritionalintake from food, medication intake, sleep periods (i.e., clock time),sleep phases, sleep quality and/or duration, pH levels, hydrationlevels, and respiration rate. The device may also measure or calculatemetrics related to the environment around the user such as barometricpressure, weather conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, pollen count,air quality, rain/snow conditions, wind speed), light exposure (e.g.,ambient light, UV light exposure, time and/or duration spent indarkness), noise exposure, radiation exposure, and magnetic field.Furthermore, the device or the system collating the data streams maycalculate metrics derived from this data. For example, the device orsystem may calculate the user's stress and/or relaxation levels througha combination of heart rate variability, skin conduction, noisepollution, and sleep quality. In another example, the device or systemmay determine the efficacy of a medical intervention (e.g., medication)through the combination of medication intake, sleep and/or activitydata. In yet another example, the device or system may determine theefficacy of an allergy medication through the combination of pollendata, medication intake, sleep and/or activity data. These examples areprovided for illustration only and are not intended to be limiting orexhaustive. Further embodiments and implementations of sensor devicescan be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/156,304 (U.S. PatentPublication 2012-0083715 A1), titled “Portable Biometric MonitoringDevices and Methods of Operating Same” filed Jun. 8, 2011 which isentirely incorporated herein by reference.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Implementation of Location Sensors in Portable Biometric Monitoring andOther Devices

There are many valuable biometrics which can be determined through theuse of location sensors such as Global Positioning System (GPS), GlobalNavigation Satellite System (GLONASS), and cell phone trilateration.However, location sensors can present a variety of problems in terms ofuser interaction and device design in portable biometric monitoringdevices. If the device has not been used for a period of time (generallylonger than about a minute) it does not have enough information to knowwhere to start its search for satellites. The amount of time it takesfor a location sensor to find its location after having not been usedfor a period of time is called the “time to first fix” or TTFF. Manylocation sensors have a TTFF which is unacceptably long from a user'sperspective. For example, if users would like to go for a bike ride,they may have to wait multiple minutes after turning on their locationsensitive device before starting their ride to get location data.

Another issue associated with the use of Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GNSS) equipped portable biometric monitoring devices is theirpower consumption. Multiple inventions discussed herein describe howpower consumption of GNSS sensors can be greatly reduced byintelligently duty cycling the GNSS sensor or sensors. Additional oralternative power savings can be achieved by using a remote computingdevice to do some or all of the processing required to calculatelocations.

Some techniques described herein which aid a GNSS sensor are referred toas “Assisted-GPS” or “A-GPS.” A-GPS can be split up into two subcategories. In Mobile Station Based A-GPS, the location sensitive device(or “mobile station”) acquires information from sources other than GNSSsatellites to aid in the determination of its location. The locationsensitive device may be a wearable biometric monitoring device. Thewearable biometric monitoring device may include a navigation datareceiver. The navigation data receiver may be a GPS receiver or similarcomponent which may receive position fixing data. The location of thedevice is calculated from the position fixing data on the wearablebiometric monitoring device itself.

In Mobile Station Assisted A-GPS, some or all of the processing requiredto calculate the location sensitive device's location is performed onone or more secondary devices (e.g. a remote server in wirelesscommunication with the location sensitive device).

Various examples below describe a navigation system employing one ormore satellites that transmit ephemeris and/or position fixing data. Forthe purposes of simplicity, the examples refer to a navigationsatellite, but each example may also be implemented with multiplenavigation satellites, one or more of which communicate ephemeris dataand/or position fixing data. The same navigation satellite maycommunicate both ephemeris data and position fixing data, or ephemerisdata and position fixing data may be communicated through separatenavigation satellites. The navigation satellites may be satellites in aGPS system, or it may be navigation satellites in another navigationsatellite system such as the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System,the European Union Compass system, the Indian Regional NavigationalSatellite System, or the Chinese Compass navigation system.

Assisted-GPS—Mobile Station Based

In one embodiment, additional data may be automatically provided to thelocation sensitive device to enable it to have a shorter TTFF. Forexample, precalculated GNSS ephemeris data may be sent to the locationsensitive device through a wired or wireless connection. Having currentephemeris data available can increase the accuracy of the GNSS as wellas reduce the TTFF. This ephemeris data is generally wirelesslycommunicated from a server hosted by commercial or public sources suchas Mediatek, CSR, and The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) of NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration. However, the ephemeris data isonly valid for a certain period of time. Depending on the type of datadownloaded, it may be valid for a period of time varying from seconds todays. In one aspect of this disclosure, ephemeris data is automaticallyuploaded to the location sensitive device.

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a mobile station basedAssisted-GPS of a worn biometric monitoring device for obtainingephemeris data from a paired secondary device. FIG. 1, includes abiometric tracking device 102, a secondary device 104, a navigationsatellite 106, and a user 108. The user 108 wears the biometric trackingdevice 102.

In FIG. 1, ephemeris data is transmitted from the navigation satellite106 to the secondary device 104. The secondary device may be a computingdevice such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. The secondary device maybe any device associated with the biometric tracking device, includingsecondary devices paired with the biometric tracking device. Thesecondary device may be associated with the biometric tracking devicethrough Bluetooth, through a WiFi connection, or through other types ofcommunications pairing. In other embodiments, the secondary device is acomputing device connected to an ephemeris server. The secondary devicemay automatically download the ephemeris data from the navigationsatellite or the ephemeris server. In some cases, a dongle (e.g., a USBdongle) may be connected to the secondary device to enable the secondarydevice to wirelessly communicate with the worn biometric monitoringdevice. The secondary device may then wirelessly communicate theephemeris device to the worn biometric monitoring device.

When the worn biometric monitoring device is within wirelesscommunication range of the secondary device 104 (or alternativelyconnected to the secondary device through a wired connection), a portionor all of the ephemeris data may be downloaded to the worn biometricmonitoring device 102 through a transmission 110. The worn biometricmonitoring device 102 may download the current ephemeris data from thesecondary device 104 via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol. A wireless short-range, low-power communication protocol maybe any communication protocol designed to communicate data over shortdistances, such as distances less than 200 meters, from fixed and mobiledevices and personal area networks. Wireless short-range, low-powercommunication protocols may include protocols such as Bluetooth, ANT,near field communication (NFC), ZigBee, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15,Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocols, and other relatedcommunication protocols. This will ensure that the ephemeris data is upto date, allowing a quick TTFF from a cold start.

Using the ephemeris data, the worn biometric tracking device A02 maythen obtain position fixing data 118 from the navigation satellite 106to calculate the global position of the worn biometric tracking device102. The worn biometric tracking device 102 may include a GPS receiveror other navigation data receiver to receive the position fixing data118. The position fixing data may be any data which allows a processorto calculate the global position of the worn biometric tracking device102. The position fixing data 118 may be timed signals sent by GPSsatellites orbiting the earth. The timed signals may include datarelating to the time the message was transmitted and the position of thesatellite at the time of message transmission. The position fixing data118 is then utilized to calculate the global position of the wornbiometric tracking device 102. The global position may be calculatedfrom the position fixing data using methods such as the Least SquaresMethod or Bancroft's Method.

FIG. 2 shows a further example configuration of a mobile station basedAssisted-GPS of a worn biometric monitoring device for obtainingephemeris data from a paired secondary device. FIG. 2 includes thebiometric tracking device 102, the secondary device 104, the navigationsatellite 106, the user 108, the cellphone tower 212, and the A-GPSserver 214.

In FIG. 2, ephemeris data is transmitted from the navigation satellite106 to the A-GPS server 214. Alternatively, A-GPS server 214 may obtainephemeris data from another source, such as servers hosted by public orprivate organizations or the ephemeris data may be preloaded from adifferent source. The A-GPS server 214 may be a server hosted bycommercial or public sources such as Mediatek, CSR, and The NationalGeodetic Survey (NGS) of National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration. The A-GPS server 214 may communicate the ephemeris datato the cellphone tower 212. The cellphone tower 212 may then communicatethe ephemeris data to the secondary device 104 through cell tower signal216. The cell tower signal 216 may be a signal that carries theephemeris data through a communication protocol such as 4G, 3G, LTE,GPRS, HSDPA, EV-DO, WiMax, or other protocol.

The secondary device 104 receives the ephemeris data from the cellphonetower 212 and then transmits the ephemeris data to the worn biometricmonitoring device 102 in a manner similar to how the secondary device104 transmits ephemeris data to the worn biometric monitoring device 102in FIG. 1. Using the ephemeris data, the worn biometric tracking deviceA02 may then obtain position fixing data 118 from the navigationsatellite 106 to calculate the global position of the worn biometrictracking device 102.

In some embodiments, the secondary device may serve as a “hotspot” whereany compatible location sensitive device (e.g., a biometric monitoringdevice) may be able to download ephemeris data. Alternatively, thesecondary device may only allow one specific location sensitive deviceor a set of location sensitive devices to download ephemeris data. Theset of devices which can download ephemeris data may be selected by,e.g., the user of the secondary device, the entity supplying biometricmonitoring devices, or the manager of the ephemeris data server forexample.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram detailing an example of updating ephemerisdata through a mobile station based Assisted-GPS for a biometricmonitoring device. FIG. 3 illustrates a rule to determine when to updatethe ephemeris data through detecting whether the ephemeris data is up todate.

In block 302, the requirement for an updated global position of thebiometric monitoring device is detected. The requirement for the updatedglobal position may be determined through any one or combination of therules outlined below for updating ephemeris data. Alternatively, therequirement for the updated global position of the biometric monitoringdevice may be determined through user interaction with the biometrictracking, such as the user activating certain tracking modes, or throughalgorithms to determine when the updated global position is needed, suchas algorithms determining movement of the biometric tracking device oralgorithms for updating the global position of the biometric trackingdevice according to a set timetable.

In block 304, a determination is made of whether the biometricmonitoring device possesses updated ephemeris data. The ephemeris datamay be determined to be updated by comparing the time remaining on thevalidity of the ephemeris data, through determining the last update ofthe ephemeris data, through determining whether the ephemeris data iscurrently valid, or through other determinations. If the ephemeris datais determined to be updated, the ephemeris data is then kept, as inblock 308, and a global position of the biometric monitoring device iscalculated in block 310 utilizing the current updated ephemeris.

If the ephemeris data is determined to be out of date in block 304, thenupdated ephemeris data is obtained from the paired secondary device inblock 306. The biometric tracking device may obtain updated ephemerisdata from the paired secondary device in a manner similar to the manneroutlined in FIGS. 1 and 2. After updated ephemeris data is obtained fromthe paired secondary device, the global position of the biometricmonitoring device is calculated from the updated ephemeris data in block310.

Rules may determine when to download the ephemeris data from the serverand/or when to upload the ephemeris data to the biometric monitoringdevice. Rules may also determine which ephemeris data source and whatspecific ephemeris data file should be downloaded from the server (e.g.from NGS final, NGS Rapid, or Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPS) GDGPSephemeris sources as well as which specific A-GPS protocol to download,such as 3gpp, Open Mobile Alliance, Secure User Plane Location V1.0, andSecure User Plane Location V2.0). Similarly, rules may determine whatspecific ephemeris data is uploaded to the biometric monitoring device.For example, there may be a rule to determine whether to upload allcurrently available ephemeris data or upload only a portion of currentlyavailable ephemeris data. Ephemeris data is typically provided in timeincrements such as the next hour, day, 10 days, 30 days, etc. In oneimplementation, a rule determines whether to upload all 30 days of theavailable ephemeris data to the biometric monitoring device or only aportion, such as 5 days, of the ephemeris data to the biometricmonitoring device. Apart from determining how much ephemeris data toupload from the secondary device, a rule can determine how muchephemeris data to download from an external source to the secondarydevice. In various implementations, the secondary device maintainsaccess to significantly more ephemeris data than it uploads to biometricmonitoring device at any given time. For example, a secondary device maydownload 30 days of available ephemeris data, but only upload 5 days ofthe available ephemeris data to the biometric monitoring device. Also, arule may also determine that ephemeris data for only a specific subsetsatellites will be downloaded.

One rule that may be used to determine the above ephemeris download andupload characteristics may be the time remaining before the ephemerisdata on the biometric monitoring device is invalid. For example, if thebiometric monitoring device only has one day of valid ephemeris data,the biometric monitoring device may obtain updated ephemeris data from asecondary device the next time the secondary device is in communicationwith the biometric monitoring device. In another example, the biometricmonitoring device may determine a time remaining before ephemeris datastored on the biometric monitoring device is no longer valid. If thetime remaining is below an update time threshold, the biometricmonitoring device may request updated ephemeris data from a secondarydevice. Update time thresholds may be times less than about 30 days. Forexample, the biometric monitoring device may have an update timethreshold of six hours. If the time remaining is less than six hours,the biometric monitoring device may obtain updated ephemeris data fromthe secondary device. Other update time thresholds may be a time periodbetween about 1 to 6 hours, about 10 to 24 hours, about 1 to 10 days, orabout 20 to 30 days. Generally, the update time threshold may be anytime period of about 30 days or less. In another example, the biometricmonitoring device has currently valid ephemeris data that it obtainedpreviously but when a rule dictates, it obtains more recently updatedversions of the ephemeris data from the secondary device.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram detailing an additional example of updatingephemeris data through a mobile station based Assisted-GPS for abiometric monitoring device. FIG. 4 illustrates a rule to determine whento update the ephemeris data based on a time threshold.

In block 402 (which may correspond to decision block 304 of FIG. 3), thebiometric tracking device or the secondary device detects that the timethreshold for updating the ephemeris data has been exceeded. The timethreshold may be a threshold determining when the ephemeris data hasbeen previously updated. For example, if it is determined that theephemeris data was last updated more than 2 hours previously and thetime threshold is 2 hours, then it may be determined that the timethreshold has been exceeded.

Once the time threshold has been determined to be exceeded, updatedephemeris data is obtained from a secondary device (e.g., a secondarydevice paired with the biometric monitoring device) in block 404. Theupdated ephemeris data is obtained from the paired secondary device in amanner similar to that outlined in FIGS. 1 and 2. After updatedephemeris data is obtained from the paired secondary device, the globalposition of the biometric monitoring device is calculated from theupdated ephemeris data in block 406.

Another rule that may be used to determine when to upload ephemeris datato the biometric monitoring device or when the biometric monitoringdevice downloads updated ephemeris data may be based on movementdetected by the biometric monitoring device itself and/or movementdetected by the secondary device. Movement may be detected by one ormore sensors including but not limited to one or more accelerometers,gyroscopes, and or altimeters. For example, if a user drives to arunning path, his smartphone may detect that he is moving. Thesmartphone may then download ephemeris data and/or other A-GPS data andupload it to the biometric monitoring device. Alternatively, thesmartphone may not download ephemeris data and/or other A-GPS data andupload until the smartphone has detected that the user has stoppedmoving or the smartphone may download ephemeris data and/or other A-GPSdata when the smartphone detects that the user is moving, but may notupload the data until the smartphone has detected that the user hasstopped moving. In another embodiment, the secondary device may detectthe global position of the user and, upon detection of movement by theuser resembling a user activity such as walking, running, or other formsof exercise, upload the global position of the user detected by thesecondary device to the biometric monitoring device to further reducethe TTFF of the biometric monitoring device.

To save power and to avoid interfering with other processes of thebiometric monitoring device, a rule may restrict uploading ephemerisdata to certain conditions such as (1) detecting a strong connectionbetween the secondary device and the monitoring device, (2) determiningthat the monitoring device has at least a defined amount of batterycharge remaining, and/or (3) determining that the monitoring device isnot engaged in another computationally expensive process such as staircounting. As an example, the ephemeris data of the biometric monitoringdevice may not be updated unless the biometric monitoring device detectsthat the biometric monitoring device is stationary. The biometricmonitoring device may also update the ephemeris data only if thebiometric monitoring device has battery life exceeding a minimum batteryamount or if the biometric monitoring device is currently consuming lessthan a defined amount of computational resources.

In another example, if the sensors on the biometric monitoring device(e.g., watch) detects that the user is interacting with the device(e.g., button pushes, motion events, capacitive touch events), pickingup the device (e.g., motion events), walking, running, or otherwisebeing active, the biometric monitoring device may attempt to downloadephemeris data from the secondary device (e.g., smartphone). In afurther example, if the sensors detect a change in orientation oraltitude of the biometric monitoring device or the secondary device, theephemeris data of the biometric monitoring device may be updated.

In certain embodiments, a threshold movement magnitude may need to beexceeded before the ephemeris data of the biometric monitoring device isupdated. For example, a biometric monitoring device may only update theephemeris data if acceleration greater than about 3 m/s² is detected byan accelerometer. Other embodiments may only update the ephemeris dataif acceleration of between about 1 to 10 m/s² is detected. Otherthresholds may also be used to determine when to download ephemeris data(e.g., a minimum velocity threshold).

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram detailing an example of an ephemeris dataupdate algorithm for a mobile station based Assisted-GPS of a biometricmonitoring device with a paired secondary device. FIG. 5 illustrates afurther rule to determine when to update the ephemeris data of thebiometric monitoring device.

In block 502, the biometric monitoring device determines whether thereis significant movement. As mentioned, movement may be detected bysensors within the biometric monitoring device, such as accelerometers,pedometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers, or by changes in thephysiological data of the user detected by a biometric monitoringsensor.

If no movement is detected, the ephemeris data on the biometricmonitoring device is not updated, as in block 506. If movement isdetected, the biometric monitoring device then obtains updated ephemerisdata from a paired secondary device in block 504.

In block 508, the global position of the biometric monitoring device iscalculated. If no movement was detected in block 502, the globalposition of the biometric monitoring device may be calculated with theun-updated ephemeris data on the biometric monitoring device. Ifmovement was detected in block 502, the global position may becalculated with the updated ephemeris data obtained in block 504.Operation 508 need not directly follow from operation 506 or fromoperation 504.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram detailing an additional example of anephemeris data update algorithm for a mobile station based Assisted-GPSof a biometric monitoring device with a paired secondary device. FIG. 6may correspond to a combination of the flow diagrams of FIGS. 3 and 5.

In block 602, movement is detected in a manner similar to that in block502 of FIG. 5. If movement is detected, updated ephemeris data isobtained in block 608 from a paired secondary device. If no movement isdetected, then a determination is made whether the biometric monitoringdevice possesses updated ephemeris data in block 604. The determinationmade in block 604 may be similar to the determination made in block 304.

If the biometric monitoring device does not possess updated ephemerisdata, updated ephemeris data is obtained in block 608 from a pairedsecondary device. If the biometric monitoring device possesses updatedephemeris data, then the current ephemeris data on the biometricmonitoring device is kept.

After updated ephemeris data is obtained, the global position of thebiometric monitoring device is calculated with the updated ephemerisdata in block 610. The global position of the biometric monitoringdevice is calculated in a manner similar to that in block 310 of FIG. 3and block 508 of FIG. 5

Another rule that may be used to determine when to download ephemerisdata or when to turn on the GNSS sensor(s) may be based on theprobability that the GNSS sensor(s) can acquire a location fix. Forexample, it is well known that GPS sensors tend to work better when theyare outdoors. Therefore, the biometric monitoring device may only turnon its GPS sensor and/or download ephemeris data when it is outdoors.The biometric monitoring device may be able to determine whether or notit is outdoors based on the difficulty of acquiring one or moresatellites signals, based on an ambient light sensor signal and/or aspecific light spectrum detected (e.g. UV light detected may indicatethat the user is outdoors), based on Wi-Fi or Cell towermultilateration, and/or based on characteristics typical of users or ofthe user of the biometric monitoring device (e.g. the user may normallybe indoors at night when they are sleeping and outdoors during a certainperiod of time when they commute to work and on the weekends).Additionally, ephemeris data of the biometric monitoring device may onlybe updated if the biometric monitoring device detects a pairing ofsufficient strength with a secondary device. In certain embodiments,when the biometric monitoring device detects a pairing of apredetermined strength with a secondary device, it may automaticallydownload updated ephemeris data from the secondary device.

In some embodiments, learning algorithms may be used to create or adjustthe rules. For example, the biometric monitoring device may regularlyupdate ephemeris data by obtaining updated ephemeris data from thepaired secondary device. The biometric monitoring device may regularlyupdate the ephemeris data by syncing with the paired secondary device todetermine that the ephemeris data of the biometric monitoring device isupdated and obtaining updated ephemeris data from the secondary deviceif the ephemeris data of the biometric monitoring device is not updated.If a user typically syncs their biometric monitoring device with theirsecondary device every five days, the secondary device may choose toupload an ephemeris file which is valid for seven days, ensuring thatthe user will have valid ephemeris data before the next sync.Additionally, if the biometric monitoring device detects that a userregularly goes without internet access for a specific amount of days,e.g., about 5 days, the biometric monitoring device may downloadephemeris data that is valid for at least the specific amount of days ifnot more, e.g., about 7 days. Also, if the biometric monitoring devicedetects that a user regularly goes for a run at a certain time period,the ephemeris data may be updated before the time of the regular run.

GNSS TTFF may also be improved with information from other static orsemi-static wireless communication devices including but not limited tocell phone towers and Wi-Fi access points. By using a lookup servicesuch as Skyhook, an accurate location can be quickly determined,especially in urban areas where there are many cell towers and Wi-Firouters. In some embodiments it may be desirable to not have or usecellular, GNSS and/or Wi-Fi receivers in the biometric monitoring devicedue to size, power, and cost constraints. However, the biometricmonitoring device may be able to take advantage of location sensitivesecondary computing devices in communication with the biometricmonitoring device. For example, when the biometric monitoring device iswithin wireless communication range of a secondary device such as asmartphone, the biometric monitoring device may download cellular based,Wi-Fi based, and/or GNSS based location data from the secondary device.Indeed, information from any location determining mechanism on one ormore secondary devices may be downloaded to the biometric monitoringdevice. Such information may aid in accelerating the TTFF of thebiometric monitoring device. In such an embodiment, the secondary devicemay maintain its last known position in memory to communicate to thebiometric monitoring device when needed. The smartphone or othersecondary device may use Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) to aid ingetting a GPS fix. Ephemeris data may also be downloaded from thesecondary device as already described.

Assisted-GPS—Mobile Station Assisted

In another embodiment of the present invention, significant powersavings and location accuracy can be achieved by offloading thedetermination of the location of the biometric monitoring device to aremote computing device or server. In this invention, a locationsensitive device such as a portable biometric monitoring device acquiresa short piece of the position fixing signal from a GNSS satellite.Enough signal is acquired to read a rough timestamp and determine thesatellite from which it came from. This raw signal (along with other rawsignals from other satellites) is then sent to a remote device (e.g., asecondary computing device) for location calculation. In certainembodiments, the raw signal may be stored on the biometric monitoringdevice before being sent to the remote device for calculation. In suchembodiments, the raw signal may only be sent to the remote device if acondition for sending the raw signal is met. For example, the conditionfor sending the raw signal may be the detection of an appropriate remotedevice. The biometric monitoring device may store the raw signal if noremote device is detected. The raw signal may be sent through ashort-range, low-power communication protocol, as mentioned above. Afterthe biometric monitoring device sends the raw signal, the remote device,using GPS ephemeris data from one of the sources already discussed, maycalculate the location using the raw signal (which does not contain theephemeris data). This location can then be sent back to the biometricmonitoring device soon after calculation or after a condition forsending back the location is met. In other cases, the location may alsoor alternatively be saved on the remote server. The saved location data(or data derived from this data such as speed) may be presented to theuser through an interface other than that of the biometric monitoringdevice, for example through a web interface.

FIG. 7 shows an example configuration of a mobile station assistedcalculation of a global position of a worn biometric monitoring device.FIG. 7 includes a biometric tracking device 102, a secondary device 104,and a navigation satellite 106.

The navigation satellite 106 communicates position fixing data 118 tothe biometric tracking device 102, which is worn by a user 108.Alternatively, the biometric tracking device 102 may not be worn by theuser, but may be positioned elsewhere. The position fixing data may beobtained from the navigation satellite in a manner similar to thatdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 3. After the biometric tracking device 102receives the position fixing data, the biometric tracking device 102communicates the position fixing data to the secondary device 104 via ashort-range, low-power communication protocol similar to that describedin FIG. 1.

The secondary device 104 calculates the global position from theposition fixing data and then communicates the global position to thebiometric tracking device 102. The secondary device 104 may communicatethe global position to the biometric tracking device 102 via the sameshort-range, low-power communication protocol as above, or via adifferent short-range, low-power communication protocol.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram detailing an example of a mobile stationassisted calculation of a global position of a biometric monitoringdevice. In block 802, the requirement for an updated global position ofa biometric monitoring device is determined. The requirement may bedetermined in a manner similar to that in block 302 of FIG. 3.

After the requirement for an updated global position has beendetermined, the biometric monitoring device obtains position fixing datafrom a navigation satellite in block 804. The position fixing data maybe obtained from the navigation satellite in a manner similar to thatdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 3.

After the biometric monitoring device obtains position fixing data, thebiometric monitoring device may communicate the position fixing data tothe secondary device in block 806 in a manner similar to that describedin FIG. 7. After the secondary device receives the position fixing data,the secondary device may calculate the global position from the positionfixing data in block 808. The global position may be calculated in amanner similar to that described in FIG. 1.

In block 810, when the secondary device calculates the global position,the secondary device may then communicate the calculated global positionto the biometric monitoring device. The secondary device may communicatethe global position to the biometric monitoring device in a mannersimilar to the manner described in FIG. 7. Alternatively, the secondarydevice may store the global position (for display of information relatedto the global position by the secondary device) and/or communicate theglobal position to a tertiary device. The tertiary device may thendisplay information related to the global position. Additionally, otherinformation in addition to the global position, such as theacceleration, velocity, and displacement of the movement of the user aswell as other movement data of the user, may also be calculated withmobile station assist.

Assisted-GPS—Inertial Sensor Assisted

In another embodiment, non-GNSS sensors in the location sensitive devicemay be used to measure movement or the lack thereof. These non-GNSSsensors may include but are not limited to one, multiple or acombination of accelerometers, gyroscope, compasses, and/ormagnetometers. Two accelerometers separated by a small distance may beused to measure rotation instead of or in addition to a gyroscope. Inone embodiment, one or more sensors may be used to measure when there isno or very little movement of the biometric monitoring device. In thecase where no or very little motion is detected since the last GNSSlocation was acquired, the biometric monitoring device can assume thatit is in the same location. This information may be used to speed up thetime to first fix.

In the case where movement can be measured by non-GNSS sensors, if theGNSS sensor is turned off or otherwise unable to acquire location data,non-GNSS sensors may be used to update the user's current position. Thisupdated position may subsequently be used to speed up the time to firstfix. For example, one or more accelerometers and magnetometers may beused to calculate an updated position using dead reckoning. The nexttime the GNSS sensor tries to find determine its location, the updatedposition can be used to improve the time to first fix.

Case-Based Antenna for Location Sensitive Portable Devices

Typically, there is very little space for antennas in portable biometricmonitoring devices. The present invention makes use of the spaceavailable in the case or attachment mechanisms of the portable biometricmonitoring device (e.g. wrist strap, clip case, etc.) by housing anantenna or a portion of the antenna in case or attachment mechanisms.For example, the ground plane of a wrist mounted biometric monitoringdevice may be incorporated into some or all of the wrist band. Otherportions of the antenna, such as a radio frequency radiator, may beincorporated into the wrist band or case as well, or may be incorporatedinto the biometric monitoring device. In another example, a case for abiometric monitoring device may have contacts which connect thebiometric monitoring device to a ground plane formed in the case. In afurther example, all components of the antenna may be mounted in a casefor a biometric monitoring device. The antenna may then connect to thebiometric monitoring device through electrically conductive contact onthe biometric monitoring device or through a film of metal on thesurface of the biometric monitoring device. Further examples of antennascan be found in U.S. Patent Application No. 61/948,470 titled “HybridRadio Frequency/Inductive Loop Antenna,” incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. Further examples of cases and attachmentmechanisms for a portable biometric monitoring device may be found inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/029,764 titled “Wearable BiometricMonitoring Devices, Interchangeable Accessories and IntegratedFastenings to Permit Wear,” incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

Mounted Camera Positioning Aid

It has become common for users to record video or photos of activitiessuch as outdoor recreation. There is high demand for portable cameraswhich can record video that are small and light enough to be worn on thebody, mounted to sports equipment or mounted to other devices includingbut not limited to vehicles. Despite the convenience of such smallmountable cameras over traditional larger cameras, it is often verydifficult to position the camera so that they have the appropriate viewarea. It is also difficult to control (start, stop, pause, etc.) andview recording and playback due to limited user interfaces on thecameras. Control and viewing can also be made more difficult if notimpossible when the camera is mounted in certain locations, for exampleon a helmet.

In one embodiment of the present inventions, a portable biometricmonitoring device (e.g. wrist mounted activity tracker) also hascapabilities which enables it to wirelessly communicate with one or morecameras to address the difficulties listed above. Namely, the portablebiometric monitoring device may wirelessly receive video recorded fromthe camera to aid in camera positioning and alignment. The portablebiometric monitoring device may also be able to wirelessly control therecoding and play back of one or more cameras.

For example, one user may be able to position their camera by viewing alive video feed from their camera on their portable biometric monitoringdevice. They can then start the recording of the camera by interactingwith the portable biometric monitoring device. After completing theactivity (e.g. getting to the bottom of a ski slope), the user can againinteract with their portable biometric monitoring device to stop therecording. The user can then play back their recording or a recordingfrom a friend's camera on the display of their portable biometricmonitoring device

FIG. 9 shows an example configuration of a biometric monitoring deviceportable camera positioning aid. FIG. 9 includes a biometric trackingdevice 102 and a portable camera 934. A user 108 wears the biometrictracking device 102 in FIG. 9.

The biometric tracking device 102 may wirelessly interact with theportable camera 934. The biometric tracking device 102 may, for example,wirelessly receive video or provide instructions to the portable camera934 as described above. The biometric tracking device 102 may interactwith the portable camera 934 through a short-range, low-powercommunication protocol as described above.

Unified Biometric and Environmental Dashboard

Many biometric and environmental monitoring devices have the capabilityto send saved data to one or more secondary devices, typically a server.In order to enable users to more easily access and digest this data, itis the goal of the present invention to provide a unified biometric andenvironmental user interface. This “unified dashboard” user interfacewould preferably be available through a website and/or application on acomputing device such as a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop and/ordesktop computer.

The unified dashboard may allow the user to choose what data orinformation they would like to be presented and how it is presented. Forexample, the user may be able to choose and organize virtual tiles whichdisplay information. Tiles may show biometric data including but notlimited to steps taken, distance covered, floors climbing, caloriesconsumed, calories burned as well as environmental data including butnot limited to temperature, humidity, air quality (e.g. CO2concentration, particulates, pollen index, etc.), and predicted weather.

Further embodiments and implementations of multiple data streams(biometric, environmental, etc) can be found in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/174,497, titled “Method of Data Stream Synthesis,” U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/178,224, titled “Method of Data StreamSynthesis,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/178,232, titled“Tracking User Physical Activity With Multiple Devices” which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

Timestream Database

In order to facilitate third party developers of applications running onportable biometric monitoring devices, an accessible database ofbiometric and/or environmental data may be created. This “timestream”database would enable third party apps to put data such as biometricevents (e.g. logging heart rate stat every second, minute, hour, day,week, etc.). As an alternative to the timestream database, a key/valuedatabase may be used to store data.

In the context of this disclosure, third party refers to a company orindividual which is independent of the company or individual thatmanages and/or creates the timestream database.

Further embodiments and implementations of multiple data streamsrelevant to timestream databases can also be found in U.S. PatentApplication No. 61/762,210, titled “Method of Data Stream Synthesis”filed Feb. 7, 2013 which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.

Gesture-Based Portable Biometric Monitoring Device Display Control

Portable biometric monitoring devices typically have screens which userscan interact with through a variety of input mechanisms includingbuttons and touchscreens. In some applications, this can yield anunsatisfactory user experience. For example, in the case of a portablebiometric monitoring device coupled to the wrist, the user may want toquickly see what time it is on the device without pressing a button. Byusing accepting user input through physical gestures, the user may beable to intuitively and effortlessly control the display. In thisexample, the motion of moving the wrist to view the display may causethe display to turn on and/or show the time.

Gesture Sensors

Gestures may be detected through one or more sensors including one ormore accelerometers, gyroscopes, EMG sensors, magnetometers, proximitysensors, IR sensors (e.g. to detect IR radiation from a user's face),face and/or eye tracking sensors (e.g. using machine vision), airpressure sensors and strain sensors. Two accelerometers may be usedtogether to detect rotation. One or more accelerometers may measure thedisplays orientation with respect to gravity, and therefore itsorientation (e.g. up, down, sideways, etc.). One or more magnetometersor compass sensors could also be used to measure orientation or detectrotation. In some embodiments one or more of the above sensors may beused together to detect motions or other characteristics which indicatethat the user is performing a gesture.

Detected Gestures

One or more gestures may correspond to one or more controls for thedisplay. These gestures may include, but are not limited to one,multiple, or a combination of the follow; looking at the display, facingthe display (but not necessarily making eye contact), flexing muscles(e.g. in the wrist, arm or hand), moving or rotating one or more bodyparts (e.g. moving the wrist in a manner which enables the user to makeeye contact with the display). In an embodiment where the device ismounted to the wrist, a “wrist flip” gesture may be detected bymeasuring the rotation, rotation rate, etc. of the device on the wristas it moves from an orientation where the display is upside down(relative to the reading direction of the user) to an orientation wherethe display is right side up. In lieu of or in combination withrotation, the gesture may also be detected through the angle of thedevice with respect to gravity through, for example, the use of a tiltsensor or accelerometer.

Gesture Controlled Aspects of the Display

One or more gestures may control one or more aspects of the display. Insome embodiments, gestures may cause the display to display a certaintype of data (e.g. the time). In other embodiments, gestures may affectthe responsivity of a touchscreen (e.g. to facilitate user input throughthe touchscreen, and/or make the device respond to a first touchfaster). Gestures may also cause the touchscreen to turn on or off. Inother embodiments, gestures may turn the display on or off. In otherembodiments, gestures may change the mode of a touchscreen from a lowpower monochrome mode that is visible without a backlight to afull-color LED backlight display mode. Any characteristic or set ofcharacteristics of the display that can be controlled by software orfirmware in the device may be controlled by gestures.

Wrist-Mounted Portable Biometric Monitoring Device Embodiment

In one embodiment illustrative of the use of the present invention, awrist mounted portable biometric monitoring device may allow a user tocontrol the display through gestures. If the user performs a “wristflick” gesture where they move and rotate their wrist in a manner whichenables them to make eye contact with the display, the display may showthe time and/or increase the sensitivity of the touchscreen display.

The “wrist flick” gesture may include, but is not limited to one of thefollowing motions:

-   -   one quick (approximately) 90 degree rotation of the wrist        quickly followed by one quick (approximately) 90 degree rotation        of the wrist in the opposite direction    -   one quick (approximately) 90 degree rotation of the wrist from        an orientation where the display is in view of the user to an        orientation where the display is not in view of the user quickly        followed by one quick (approximately) 90 degree rotation of the        wrist in the opposite direction from an orientation where the        display is not in view of the user to an orientation where the        display is in view of the user    -   one quick (approximately) 90 degree rotation of the wrist    -   one quick (approximately) 90 degree rotation of the wrist from        an orientation where the display is not in view of the user to        an orientation where the display is in view of the user.

The rotation of the gesture may be detected through the use of a varietyof sensors already disclosed herein (e.g. through the use of twoaccelerometers). Orientation of the display may be detected by detectingthe orientation of gravity with one or more accelerometers. The displayis considered to be “in view of the user” when the user can make eyecontact and easily read information presented on the display.

Further embodiments and implementations of gesture based display controlcan be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/029,763, titled“Device State Dependent User Interface Management” filed Sep. 17, 2013which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.

Implementation of Sensor Device, Secondary Device and OtherConsiderations

FIG. 10 shows an example of a portable biometric monitoring devicehaving a user interface including a button and a display. Biometrictracking device 1002 includes a display 1020 and a button 1022.Biometric tracking device 1002 may collect one or more types ofphysiological and/or environmental data from embedded sensors and/orexternal devices and communicate or relay such information to otherdevices. The user of the biometric tracking device 1002 may utilize thebutton 1022 to interface with the device. The display 1020 may be apixelated display such as an LED display. The display 1020 may displayinformation including physiological information of the user,environmental data, the global position of the biometric tracking device1002, battery life remaining of the biometric tracking device 1002, andother types of data.

FIG. 11 shows a wrist mounted portable biometric monitoring devicehaving a button, a display, and a band to secure the portable biometricmonitoring device to the wrist. The wrist-mounted portable biometricdevice 1124 includes a display 1126, a button 1128, clasp protrusions1130, and clasp receptacles 1132. The wrist-mounted portable biometricdevice 1124 is a biometric monitoring device designed to be worn arounda user's wrist. The wrist-mounted portable biometric device 1124 may besecurely worn on the user's wrist by inserting the clasp protrusions1130 into the clasp receptacles 1132. There are more clasp receptaclesthan clasp protrusions, allowing a user to adjust the fit of thewrist-mounted portable biometric device 1124 by varying which theinsertion position of the clasp protrusions into the clasp receptacles.

The button 1128 is an interface for the user to interact with thewrist-mounted portable biometric device 1124. The display 1126 maydisplay information related to the capabilities of the wrist-mountedportable biometric device 1124, similar to the display in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 illustrates a generalized embodiment of a computing device 1200that may be used to implement a sensor device, secondary device, and/orserver or other device in which the various operations described abovemay be executed (e.g., in a distributed manner between the sensor deviceand communication device). As shown, computing device 1200 includes aprocessing unit 1202, memory 1206 for storing program code executed bythe processing unit to effect the various methods and techniques of theabove-described embodiments, and also to configuration data or otherinformation for effecting various programmed or configuration settingsin accordance with the embodiments described above. Note that theprocessing unit itself may be implemented by a general or specialpurpose processor (or set of processing cores) and thus may executesequences of programmed instructions to effectuate the variousoperations associated with sensor device syncing, as well as interactionwith a user, system operator or other system components.

Still referring to FIG. 12, computing device 1200 further includes oneor more input and/or output (I/O) ports 1208 for receiving andoutputting data (e.g., various wireless communications interfaces inaccordance with communications standards described above), and aoperator interface 1210 to present (display) and receive information toa human or artificial operator and thus enable an operator to controlserver-side and/or client-side inputs in connection with theabove-described syncing operations. Though not shown, numerous otherfunctional blocks may be provided within computing device 1200 accordingto other functions it may be required to perform (e.g., one or morebiometric sensors, environmental sensors, etc., within a sensor device,as well as one or more wireless telephony operations in a smartphone,and wireless network access in a mobile computing device, including asmartphone, tablet computer, laptop computer, etc.) and the computingdevice itself may be a component in a larger device, server or networkof devices and/or servers. Further, the functional blocks withincomputing device JJ00 are depicted as being coupled by a communicationpath 1204 which may include any number of shared or dedicated buses orsignaling links. More generally, the functional blocks shown may beinterconnected in a variety of different architectures and individuallyimplemented by a variety of different underlying technologies andarchitectures. With regard to the memory architecture, for example,multiple different classes of storage may be provided within memory 1206to store different classes of data. For example, memory 1206 may includenon-volatile storage media such as fixed or removable magnetic, optical,or semiconductor-based recording media to store executable code andrelated data, volatile storage media such as static or dynamic RAM tostore more transient information and other variable data.

FIG. 13 shows a further generalized embodiment of a computing devicethat may be used to implement a portable biometric monitoring device inwhich the various operations described herein may be executed. Thecomputing device 1300 includes a processing unit 1302, communicationpath 1304, a memory 1306, an I/O 1308, an operator interface 1310, a GPSreceiver 1312, an accelerometer 1314, and a biometric sensor 1316, andcommunication circuitry 1318. The computing device 1300 may be similarin configuration to the computing device 1200 in FIG. 12. The computingdevice 1300 has the GPS receiver 1312, the accelerometer 1314, thebiometric sensor 1316, and the communication circuitry 1318 coupled tothe processing unit 1302. In other embodiments, one or more of the GPSreceiver 1312, the accelerometer 1314, the biometric sensor 1316, andthe communication circuitry 1318 may be coupled to the communicationpath 1304 or to other blocks in computing device 1300.

Referring again to the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the memory 1306 maycontain code or other logic for the processing unit 1302 to control theGPS receiver 1312, the accelerometer 1314, and the biometric sensor1316. Functions that may be controlled by the logic include tracking ofphysiological data by the biometric sensor 1316, the communication ofephemeris data through the communication circuitry 1318, thecommunication of position fixing data by the GPS receiver 1312 and/orthe communication circuitry 1318, and the tracking of acceleration ofthe portable biometric monitoring device by the accelerometer 1314.

The various methods and techniques disclosed herein may be implementedthrough execution of one or more a sequences of instructions (i.e.,software program(s)) within processing unit 1202, or by a custom-builthardware ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), or programmedon a programmable hardware device such as an FPGA (field-programmablegate array), or any combination thereof within or external to processingunit 1202.

Any of the various methodologies disclosed herein and/or user interfacesfor configuring and managing same may be implemented by machineexecution of one or more sequences instructions (including related datanecessary for proper instruction execution). Such instructions may berecorded on one or more computer-readable media for later retrieval andexecution within one or more processors of a special purpose or generalpurpose computer system or consumer electronic device or appliance, suchas the system, device or appliance described in reference to Figure JJ.Computer-readable media in which such instructions and data may beembodied include, but are not limited to, non-volatile storage media invarious forms (e.g., optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage media)and carrier waves that may be used to transfer such instructions anddata through wireless, optical, or wired signaling media or anycombination thereof. Examples of transfers of such instructions and databy carrier waves include, but are not limited to, transfers (uploads,downloads, e-mail, etc.) over the Internet and/or other computernetworks via one or more data transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP, FTP, SMTP,etc.).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device, the method comprising: (a) repeatedlyand automatically syncing the worn biometric monitoring device with asecondary device associated with the worn biometric monitoring device,wherein the syncing comprises providing the worn biometric monitoringdevice with current ephemeris data from the secondary device using awireless short-range, low-power communication protocol.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: (b) determining that a global position ofthe worn biometric monitoring device should be calculated; and (c)calculating the global position of the worn biometric monitoring deviceusing the ephemeris data obtained in (a), wherein at least some of thesyncing is conducted when the worn biometric monitoring device is notdetermining the global position of the worn biometric monitoring device.3. The method of claim 1, wherein each syncing comprises: (i)determining an elapsed time from when the ephemeris data was lastupdated; (ii) comparing the elapsed time with a sync time threshold;(iii) determining that the elapsed time exceeds the sync time threshold;and (iv) obtaining updated ephemeris data from the secondary device. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the sync time threshold is between aboutevery 5 minutes to about every 6 hours.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the worn biometric monitoring device is regularly synced withthe secondary device according to a schedule.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the schedule is a time schedule according to a time of day. 7.The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the schedule bymonitoring a pattern of interaction of a user with the biometricmonitoring device.
 8. The method of claim 1, the method furthercomprising: (d) determining, before (a), that the worn biometricmonitoring device is associated with the secondary device.
 9. A wearablebiometric monitoring device, the wearable biometric monitoring devicecomprising: communication circuitry, the communication circuitryconfigured to receive ephemeris data from a secondary device associatedwith the wearable biometric monitoring device via a wirelessshort-range, low-power communication protocol and output the ephemerisdata to a controller; and the controller comprising one or moreprocessors and a memory, wherein the one or more processors, the memory,and the communication circuitry, are communicatively connected and thememory is configured to store ephemeris data and program instructionsfor controlling the one or more processors to: (a) repeatedly andautomatically sync the wearable biometric monitoring device with thesecondary device, wherein the sync comprises obtaining current ephemerisdata from the secondary device, (b) determine that a global position ofthe wearable biometric monitoring device should be calculated, and (c)calculate the global position using the current ephemeris data obtainedin (a), wherein at least some of the syncing is conducted when thewearable biometric monitoring device is not determining the globalposition of the wearable biometric monitoring device.
 10. The wearablebiometric monitoring device of claim 9, wherein the program instructionsfor (a) comprise instructions for: (i) determining an elapsed time fromwhen the ephemeris data was last updated; (ii) comparing the elapsedtime with a sync time threshold; (iii) determining that the elapsed timeexceeds the sync time threshold; and (iv) obtaining updated ephemerisdata from the secondary device.
 11. The wearable biometric monitoringdevice of claim 10, wherein the sync time threshold is between aboutevery 5 minutes to about every 6 hours.
 12. The wearable biometricmonitoring device of claim 9, wherein the program instructions for (a)comprise instructions for regularly syncing with the secondary deviceaccording to a schedule.
 13. The wearable biometric monitoring device ofclaim 12, wherein the schedule is a time schedule according to a time ofday.
 14. The wearable biometric monitoring device of claim 12, furthercomprising program instructions for determining the schedule bymonitoring a pattern of interaction of a user with the biometricmonitoring device.
 15. The wearable biometric monitoring device of claim9, wherein the memory stores further program instructions forcontrolling the one or more processors to: (d) determine, before (a),that the worn biometric monitoring device is associated with thesecondary device.
 16. A method of determining a global position of aworn biometric monitoring device, the method comprising: (a) obtainingposition fixing data by interacting with one or more navigationsatellites; and (b) providing the position fixing data to an associatedsecondary device via a wireless short-range, low-power communicationprotocol.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: (c) receivingthe global position from the secondary device.
 18. The method of claim16, wherein the worn biometric monitoring device comprises a navigationdata receiver.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the worn biometricmonitoring device comprises a navigation data receiver and whereininteracting with the one or more navigation satellites comprisesreceiving the position fixing data from the one or more navigationsatellites via the navigation data receiver using wirelesscommunication.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising: (c)storing the position fixing data in a memory after (a) and before (b).21. The method of claim 16, further comprising: (c) determining, before(a), that the global position of the worn biometric monitoring deviceshould be calculated.
 22. The method of claim 16, wherein theshort-range, low-power communication protocol consists of protocolsselected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy(BTLE), ANT, near field communication (NFC), ZigBee, IEEE 802.11, IEEE802.15, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocols, and standardsrelated to any of the foregoing.
 23. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising (c) displaying a graphical representation of the globalposition on the associated secondary device.
 24. The method of claim 16,further comprising (c) communicating the global position from theassociated secondary device to a tertiary device.
 25. A systemcomprising a wearable biometric monitoring device, the wearablebiometric monitoring device comprising: communication circuitry, thecommunication circuitry configured to output data to a secondary deviceassociated with the wearable biometric monitoring device via a wirelessshort-range, low-power communication protocol and receive a globalposition from the secondary device; a navigation data receiver, thenavigation data receiver configured to receive the position fixing datafrom a navigation satellite and output the position fixing data to acontroller; and the controller comprising one or more processors and amemory, wherein the one or more processors, the memory, thecommunication circuitry, and the navigation data receiver arecommunicatively connected and the memory is configured to store programinstructions for controlling the one or more processors to: (a) obtainthe position fixing data from the navigation satellite, (b) provide theposition fixing data to the associated secondary device via thecommunication circuitry so that the secondary device can calculate aglobal position of the wearable biometric monitoring device, and (c)receive the global position from the secondary device.
 26. The system ofclaim 25, wherein the memory stores further program instructions forcontrolling the one or more processors to store the position fixing datain the memory after (a) and before (b).
 27. The system of claim 25,wherein the memory stores further program instructions for controllingthe one or more processors to determine, before (a), that the globalposition of the wearable biometric monitoring device should becalculated.
 28. The system of claim 25, wherein the short-range,low-power communication protocol consists of protocols selected from thegroup consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), ANT, nearfield communication (NFC), ZigBee, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, InfraredData Association (IrDA) protocols, and standards related to any of theforegoing.
 29. The system of claim 25, further comprising the secondarydevice, wherein the secondary device comprises: a user interface,configured to communicate information to a user; and a secondary devicecontroller comprising one or more secondary device processors and asecondary device memory, wherein: the one or more secondary deviceprocessors and the secondary device memory are communicativelyconnected, and the memory and the secondary device memory store, in theaggregate, program instructions for controlling the one or moreprocessors or the one or more secondary device processors to cause theglobal position to be communicated via the user interface.
 30. Thesystem of claim 29, wherein the secondary device memory store programinstructions for controlling the one or more secondary device processorsto communicate the global position from the secondary device to atertiary device.